The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin america
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STUDY
The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy
in Latin America
Thamy Pogrebinschi
August 2013
n In recent years, participatory and deliberative experiments have increasingly become
an integral part of Latin America`s democratization process. Given the speed with
which they have been multiplied and institutionalized, a reassessment of the course
of democratization in Latin America is necessary.
n The expansion and incorporation of experimentalist forms of government in a num-
ber of Latin American democracies does not aim to destabilize representative insti-
tutions, nor to substitute them with alternative, participatory or deliberative ones.
Rather, this pragmatic change in Latin American democracies attempts to correct
some of the alleged failures of representative institutions as well as to attain social
ends that they seem unable to achieve.
n Democracies described as delegative, defective or pseudo democracies, and which
emerged in the third wave of democratization are being progressively displaced by
pragmatic democracies. This experimental form of governance combines representa-
tion, participation and deliberation as means to achieve social ends.
n The escalation of political experimentalism raises important questions on how to
evaluate the quality of democracy. New criteria are necessary to account for the
democratic experimentation taking place in Latin America. Once the validity of this
new, experimental model of democracy is recognized, Latin America could provide
new and more creative recipes to enhance the quality of democracy elsewhere.Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
Content
1. From Left Turn to Pragmatic Turn 3
1.1 The Left Turn 4
1.2 The Wave of Constitution Making 5
1.2.1 Venezuela’s Bolivarian Constitution 5
1.2.2 Bolivia and Ecuador 6
1.2.3 A Revolution without Revolution? 7
2. From Political Disaffection to Political Experimentalism 8
2.1 Expanding Democracy’s Means 9
2.1.1 Combining Representation and Direct Democracy 9
2.1.2 Furthering Citizens’ Engagement 10
2.1.3 Combining Representation with Participation and Deliberation 11
2.1.4 Strengthening Representation through Participation 12
2.1.5 Can Participation Remedy Political Disaffection? 13
2.2 Achieving Democracy’s Ends 14
3. Towards a New Model of Democracy? 17
References 18
1Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
The new democracies of Latin America that emerged Several other scholars have also tackled the possible
with the third wave of democratization have now com- relations between poor government performance and
pleted their transitions and have reached an advanced low support for democracy in Latin America from var-
stage of their consolidation processes, despite some ious perspectives (Camp 2001; Lagos 2003; Graham
delays caused by clientelism, corruption, populism and and Sukhtankar 2004; Sarsfield and Echegaray 2006).
the other alleged ‘deficiencies’ taken as indicative of Regardless of the many democratization efforts during
imperfect institutionalization and inadequate govern- the 1980s, until the turn of the century the literature was
ment performance (Diamond, Hartlyn, Linz and Lipset supported by attitudinal measurements of democratic
1999; Merkel 2004). According to the literature, the consolidation in diagnosing a growing gap between for-
supposed inability of Latin American governments to mal and liberal democracy in Latin America (Diamond
promote growth and development, reduce poverty and 1997).
inequality, and control inflation and crime explain their
successive failures (Fox 1994; Mainwaring 1999; Hago- Democracy indices relying also on attitudinal data led to
pian and Mainwaring 2005) and is a symptom of a poor constant critical assessments of the quality of democracy
state performance that affected citizens’ trust in political in Latin America over the 1990s. Even if the scholarship
institutions and led to a crisis of representation in the tends now to agree that transitions are complete and
region (Mainwaring 2006). democracy is consolidated in almost all Latin America
countries (Cuba and Haiti being the exceptions), disputes
Although rises in levels of political satisfaction are ex- concerning how to adequately measure democracy on
pected to follow democratic consolidation (Newton and the continent persist (Altman and Pérez - Liñán 2002;
Delhey 2005), over two decades after the acknowledged O’Donnell, Vargas Cullel and Iazzetta 2004; Munck
beginning of the third wave in Latin America in 1978 2007; Levine and Molina 2011), as well as the negative
(Huntington 1991; Hagopian and Mainwaring 2005), diagnoses that only a few countries in the region have
attitudinal (low level of political trust and high level of »met the challenge of governing both democratically
dissatisfaction with democracy among citizens) and be- and effectively« (Mainwaring and Scully 2009). Latin
havioural (low electoral turnout and party identification, America’s democracy has been persistently defined as
as well as high electoral volatility) indicators corroborate a »pseudo« (Diamond, Linz and Lipset 1989), »delega-
specialists’ diagnoses of a widespread disenchantment tive« (O’Donnel 1993) or »defective« (Merkel 2004) de-
with institutions of representative democracy on the mocracy, among other deprecatory adjectives.
continent, in particular political parties and legislatures
(Mainwaring and Scully 1995; Hagopian 1998; Roberts This critical assessment of democracy in Latin America,
and Wibbels 1999). which is emblematic of most of the international schol-
arship on democratization in the region, has already
Up to the turn of the century the Latinobarometer, for been deemed flawed for not taking into account the
example, had indicated high levels of public dissatis- differences across the continent and for being static
faction with democracy in Latin America. Even the (Hagopian 2005). Furthermore, efforts to evaluate dem-
percentage of citizens who regarded democracy as the ocratic quality have been considered as insufficient to
preferred form of government had declined between capture Latin America’s cultural diversity and political
1990 and 2000, exactly when most countries should identities (Van Cott 2006). In particular, forms of partici-
have been consolidating their democracies after the pation beyond elections and political parties, and spaces
transitions. On the basis of survey data from 1995 and of deliberation beyond legislative bodies escape analysis
2001, O’Donnell (2004) acknowledged that, from the and are not taken into consideration by the traditional
standpoint of public opinion, democracy was not doing measurements of democracy and its quality. Neverthe-
well in Latin America. This statement came in support less, in recent years it has become more and more ac-
of his previous analyses of the region’s countries as knowledged that participatory designs and deliberative
‘anaemic states’, where an ‘unrule of law’ (O’Donnell publics spread around the continent are an integral part
1993) and a ‘citizenship of low intensity’ (O’Donnell of Latin America’s democratization process (Avritzer
2001) prevail. 2002). The speed with which participatory innovations
are multiplied and institutionalized indicates that they
3Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
not only need to be taken into consideration by existing one to the conclusion that participation and deliberation
evaluations, but they also require a reassessment of the have been used not only as means to correct purported
course of democratization in Latin America in order to flaws of representative institutions, but also to achieve
account for the political experimentation that increas- social ends that the latter are assumed to be unable to
ingly characterizes democracy on the continent. accomplish.
As I will show in this paper, such political experimentation Experiments such as the community organizations in
consists mainly of combining representative, participatory Bolivia, the national public policy conferences in Brazil
and deliberative forms of government. This arrangement and the community councils in Venezuela have, through
implies, first, certain political strategies, such as admin- different arrangements with and within representative
istrative decentralization and occasional constitutional institutions, expanded the delivery of public services,
lawmaking; secondly, some institutional redesign, such as increased the distribution of public goods and ensured
the multiplication of deliberative bodies with various de- the enactment of social policies and rights, in addition
cision - making powers and the creation of chains of del- to strengthening the voice of disadvantaged groups
egation from state to civil society; and thirdly, a specific in the political process. This paper will address these
governing method, characterized by an interplay between and other cases, as examples of attempts to govern
political means and social ends. I call this experimentalist through a combination of representation, participation
form of government pragmatic democracy. In this paper and deliberation that, despite their varying degrees of
I claim that pragmatic democracy is an apt concept for institutional success, have somehow achieved desirable
understanding the political landscape of Latin America social ends.
today.
The interplay between political means (participatory
I assume that the growing expansion of such experi- and deliberative devices) and social ends (equality and
mentalist forms of government indicates that, in the redistribution), and the political experimentation that
course of their consolidation processes, a number of results from it is, I will argue, what makes democracy in
countries on the continent have taken a turn in their Latin America today pragmatic. To say that democracy
democratization. Such a turn – which can be read also in Latin America is turning pragmatic implies that it is
as a detour from the course of democratic consolidation engendering a new pattern of relations between state
expected by third - wave scholars – does not consist of and civil society, as well as outgrowing liberalism, dis-
hindering the stabilization of representative institutions rupting the liberal institutions of representation. Howev-
by making them fully effective and freed from their al- er, such disruption is taking place within the boundaries
leged »failures«. It also does not imply substituting them of representative democracy, by adapting its institutions
for alternative, participatory or deliberative institutions. to a post - liberal logic, a logic that assumes democracy
Rather, what I call the pragmatic turn of Latin America’s to have an intrinsic social meaning. Such a process of
democratization consists in the attempt to correct some adaptation, or adjustment, that makes liberal institutions
of the alleged failures of representative institutions with fit social ends, is, I hope to show, the core of the new,
participatory and deliberative innovations. pragmatic democracies.
The pragmatic turn of democratization has been facil-
itated by the so - called »left turn« in Latin America in 1. From Left Turn to Pragmatic Turn
recent years. The various newly - elected local and na-
tional leftist governments manifest programmatic con- In assessing the context of the pragmatic turn of Latin
cerns not only with participation and civil society, but America’s democracies, two enabling conditions seem
also with equality and redistribution. Not only has the to be relevant for understanding the wave of political
participation of civil society been enhanced through sev- experimentation that combines representation, partici-
eral innovative political means, but the latter have been pation and deliberation, aimed at remedying the sup-
improving equality and redistribution. Observation of posed failures of liberal representative institutions and
recent governments in countries as diverse as, for ex- delivering more comprehensive social policies. First, the
ample, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela can bring so - called »left turn«, the series of electoral victories
4Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
of leftist governments at both local and national levels A sequence of electoral victories following Chávez’s in
throughout the continent, starting in 1998. Secondly, 1998 led about two - thirds of the continent’s countries
the wave of constitution making, which comprises both to be governed by left - leaning political parties. The
the enactment of new constitutions and extensive con- »pink tide« brought to power parties with impressive
stitutional reforms in numerous Latin American coun- grassroots membership and close ties to labour unions
tries at various stages of their transition or consolidation and social organizations, and former union and social
processes. These enabling conditions overlap not only movement leaders rose to presidential office. Analysts
chronologically, but also in terms of what they imply agree that there is no single »left« and devise numerous
substantively. The first wave of constitution making, typologies to understand their internal variations (Paniz-
when constitutions were rewritten following the transi- za 2005; Castañeda 2006; Weyland 2009). However,
tions, may have facilitated the left turn, since several of the diversity of the various »lefts« seems to converge
the new documents opened the door to decentralization on at least three points: the parties’ programmatic ob-
and to political parties to re - enter the electoral arena. jectives of reducing social and economic inequality, their
In the other hand, the most recent wave of constitution openness to civil society and their willingness to experi-
making, from 1999 onwards – when new constitutions ment with politics.
were drafted (mainly in the Andes) or extensive constitu-
tional reforms were undertaken during the consolidation As governments have expanded their redistributive role,
process – can be seen as a product of the left turn. they have engaged in an unprecedented policy experi-
mentation that, as accurately put by Levitsky and Rob-
erts (2011), has changed not only who governs in Latin
1.1 The Left Turn America, but also how they govern. Latin America’s left
seems indeed to have developed a specific method of
The first stage of Latin America’s left turn has taken place governing, which consists mainly in devising means to
at the local level. By the turn of the century, left - lean- deliver social policies and public goods that go beyond
ing political parties governed dozens of important cities. the conventional forms, and therefore overcome the rec-
As demonstrated by Goldfrank (2011), a combination of ognized limits of liberal institutions. Several democratic
political decentralization, urban economic crisis and the innovations follow from that, not only in the terrain of
parties’ own ideological transformation are responsible public administration but especially in what concerns
for the rise of the left at local level in the late 1980s political decision - making. New institutions have been
and 1990s. The latter – the left’s own ideological trans- designed within the state and in its interface with civil
formation – implied a new commitment to democracy, society, enabling more than simple dialogue between
which had strong appeal among disillusioned citizens political and social actors.
who until not so long ago did not have the chance to
vote, in particular for left - wing parties that, in turn, had Deliberative bodies involving the equal participation of
also not the opportunity to run for local offices. government and civil society representatives have ac-
quired consultative or decisional power, in some cases
It was the strong process of political decentralization making binding decisions. These bodies have expand-
that took place in Latin America after the transitions ed the scope of political representation, as well as its
from authoritarianism that made elections at local level traditional spaces and actors, allowing citizens and CSO
a reality. Nearly all countries of the region implemented leaders representative roles and representative claims.
decentralization reforms after their transitions (Camp- Even when only consultative, these bodies achieve high
bell 2003), although their nature varies considerably. representativeness by allowing experts and citizens to sit
Administrative decentralization provided the local level together and deliberate on the design, implementation
with more autonomy, while political decentralization de- and evaluation of public policy. Policy councils com-
volved public authority to civil society, allowing citizens posed of both government and non - government mem-
to participate in the political process. Initially circum- bers at local and national level seem to be a recurrent
scribed to voting in elections, such citizen participation innovation among Latin America’s left - leaning parties,
has been substantially enlarged by left - leaning munici- and they have been developed in political and social set-
pal governments. tings as diverse as Nicaragua, Venezuela and Brazil. In
5Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
these countries, too, development councils, for example, transition from authoritarianism or democratic consoli-
are reported to display different degrees of effectiveness dation had already expanded the opportunities for polit-
with regard to relationships between social and political ical participation in numerous Latin American countries,
actors (Zaremberg 2011). the new wave of constitution making in the Andes had
the clear scope of institutionalizing not only direct, but
In Brazil, local and national councils bringing together also participatory, deliberative and also »communal«
state and civil society representatives at the different mechanisms, so as to supersede the liberal institutions of
stages of the public policy cycle are an important but political representation and guarantee the sustainability
far from the only example of the new, experimentalist of the left’s new democratic project.
method of governing developed by Latin America’s po-
litical parties after the left turn. In fact, over the past
ten years the Brazilian Workers’ Party has been exper- 1.2.1 Venezuela’s Bolivarian Constitution
imenting with so many participatory and deliberative
devices within the state’s representative structure that Venezuela inaugurated the recent wave of constitution
the institutionalization of a »national system of social making when right after being elected Chávez fulfilled
participation« (sistema nacional de participação social) his campaign’s promise and convened a constitutional
articulating all of them has been proposed by the gov- assembly to rewrite the constitution and subsequently
ernment. After the election of the former metalwork- submit it to a referendum. The new constitution was
er Luis Inácio Lula da Silva in 2002, the Workers’ Party then approved by popular vote in 1999 and institu-
started its third consecutive term of federal government tionalized among its articles direct democracy mech-
in 2011 with President Dilma Rousseff explicitly declar- anisms and instruments for social control and popular
ing in a speech before the legislature the intention to participation. Article 6 says that Venezuela »is and shall
continue »to adopt social participation as an important always be democratic, participatory, elective«, thus
governmental tool for the design, implementation and making explicit the combination of participatory and
evaluation of public policies, assuring quality and fea- representative forms of government – the latter made
sibility to a project of development in the long term« more accountable by Article 72, which institutionalizes
(Brasil 2011). These words are in line with a statement the recall of the mandates of all elected offices. Ref-
made a few months earlier by one of Lula’s ministers, erendums can be called to decide on bills under discus-
Luiz Dulci, who declared that in Brazil »since 2003 [when sion in the legislature (Article 73) and to decide on laws
Lula first took office] social participation has become a and presidential decrees (Article 74). In the latter case,
democratic method of governing«.1 With the left turn, the citizen themselves can call the derogatory referen-
a specific method for governing the new, pragmatic de- dum. Citizens can also call a referendum to propose
mocracies of Latin America was conceived. It remains to changes in the constitution and approve constitutional
be seen, however, how this experimental form of politics reforms proposed by the legislature (Articles 341 and
and deepening democracy can be sustained. 344). Citizens are also entitled to propose new legisla-
tion (Article 204) and convene a constituent assembly
(Article 348).
1.2 The Wave of Constitution Making
In addition to the institutionalization of these instruments
The method of using social participation as a means of of direct democracy, Venezuela’s new constitution also
achieving the party’s programmatic objectives and ul- paved the way for truly participatory democracy. Article
timately reducing social and economic inequality has 70 extends popular participation to »open forums and
been recently inscribed in the new constitutions of three meetings of citizens whose decisions shall be binding
Latin American countries: Venezuela, Bolivia and Ec- among others«. Article 184 asserts that »open and flex-
uador. Although most of the constitutions enacted or ible mechanisms shall be created by law to make states
reformed in the 1980s and 1990s in the course of the and municipalities decentralize and transfer services to
communities and organized neighbourhood groups«.
1. See: http://www.secretariageral.gov.br/noticias/ultimas_
That should include »the transfer of services in the are-
noticias/2010/08/20-08-2010-nota-a-imprensa-resposta-do-mi-
nistro-luiz-dulci-as-declaracoes-de-jose-serra (last checked in 21/04/13). as of health, education, housing, sports, culture, social
6Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
programs, environment, industry and urbanism«, facili- »direct and participatory, by means of referendum, pop-
tating the communities and organized neighbourhood ular initiative, recall, assembly (asamblea), native council
groups to »elaborate work projects and provide pub- (cabildo) and previous consultation (consulta previa)«;
lic services« (Article 184, 1). Communities and citizens it is also »representative, by means of elections of rep-
are also entitled, through neighbourhood associations resentatives through universal suffrage and secret and
and non-governmental organizations, to formulate in- direct voting«; and, finally, democracy in Bolivia is »com-
vestment proposals to be presented to municipal and munitarian, by means of election, designation or nom-
state authorities, as well as to »participate in the exe- ination of authorities and representatives according to
cution, evaluation and control of works projects, social the norms and procedures of the indigenous nations and
programs and public services within their jurisdiction« indigenous rural groups«. The political experimentation
(Article 184.2). that must result from such a mixture is clear, especially
when the constitution adds that the »assembly« and the
The highly participatory government designed by Arti- »native council« have a deliberative character.
cle 184 of Venezuela’s constitution has been ultimate-
ly delineated in 2006 with the enactment of the Law In Ecuador, constitution making procedures and out-
on Community Councils. Both legal documents paved comes were quite similar to those in Venezuela and Bo-
the way not only for the full operation of community livia. Rafael Correa took office as President in 2007 after
councils, but also for the activity of the missions, the promising in his campaign to convene a Constitutional
Bolivarian circles, the numerous committees, as well as Assembly. The latter drafted the country’s twentieth
other devices for social participation. Nevertheless, the constitution, which was later approved in a popular ref-
direct and participatory democracy designed by Vene- erendum. As extensive as the Constitution itself (which
zuela’s new Constitution cannot be said to undermine amounts 444 articles, plus dozens of transitory provi-
representative institutions. According to Article 70, sions) is its declaration of rights, in particular the rights
»voting to fill public offices« is the first manifestation to participation, which alone comprise a full chapter. In
of the »participation and involvement of people in the addition to that, an entire title containing 142 articles is
exercise of their sovereignty in political affairs«. All for- devoted to the »participation and organization of pow-
mal political rights and representative institutions have er«, the first of them defining what is called the principle
been preserved in the Constitution, and an Electoral of participation: »citizens, individually and collectively,
Power (Articles 292 to 298) stands besides a Citizen shall participate as leading players in decision making,
Power (Articles 273 to 291), in addition to the tradi- planning and management of public affairs and in the
tional state branches (legislative, executive and judicial people’s monitoring of State institutions and society and
powers). All that makes Venezuela a case of pragmatic their representatives in an ongoing process of building
democracy: participation is not simply strengthened, citizen power«. Next, the constitution makes clear that
and it is not strengthened to weaken representation; »the participation of citizens in all matters of public in-
rather, participation is a means to make representation terest is a right, which shall be exercised by means of
more legitimate, accountable and responsive – and mechanisms of representative, direct and community
therefore, more democratic. democracy« (Article 95).
The constitutionalization of mechanisms of representa-
1.2.2 Bolivia and Ecuador tive, direct and community democracy results in a high-
ly experimental and pragmatic government in Ecuador.
The latter statement is also true for the other consti- Grassroots legal and regulatory initiatives (Article 103),
tutions recently enacted in the Andes. The new Con- referendums (Article 104) and recall (Article 105) coex-
stitution of Bolivia, approved in early 2009 through a ist with monitoring government actions (Articles 129 to
referendum called by President Evo Morales and his 131), national equality councils (Articles 156 and 157),
Movement toward Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, judicial and indigenous justice branch of government
or MAS), proclaims in its Article 11 that the country has (Article 171), transparency and social control branch of
adopted a »participatory, representative and communi- government (Articles 204 to 206) and the Council for
tarian form of democratic governance«. Democracy is Public Participation and Social Control (Articles 207 to
7Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
210). The latter »shall promote and encourage the ex- Whether historical contradictions will be overcome
ercise of the rights involving public participation and and whether Latin America’s »document - driven rev-
shall promote and set up social control mechanisms olutions« (Partlow 2009) will go beyond the constitu-
in matters of general welfare« (Article 207). Among tions’ paper and outlive the parties and presidents that
its duties and attributions, the Council for Public Par- sponsored them remain to be seen. The depth of the
ticipation and Social Control should »promote public institutional reforms undertaken in Latin America in re-
participation, encourage public deliberation processes cent years is to a great extent the product of parties and
and foster citizenship training, values, transparency, presidents. As the latter have, with one hand, granted
and the fight against corruption« (Article 208). Direct disadvantaged groups social and economic rights in an
and participatory mechanisms should also be combined unprecedented way and, with the other hand, award-
with communal democracy: Ecuador’s decentralized ed the executive branch considerable power, critics are
autonomous governments »shall have political, admin- quick to assume the new constitutions to be a product
istrative and financial autonomy and shall be governed of populism. Some scholars believe the main challenge
by the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, inter - territo- of the new Latin American constitutions to be the com-
rial equity, integration and public participation« (Article patibility of a strong presidential system with a robust
238). The inclusion of historically marginalized groups scheme of popular participation (Gargarella 2008; Cam-
and the expansion of social and economic rights are eron and Sharpe 2010). It is indeed an open question
the main ends to be achieved by this pragmatic combi- whether a strong executive encourages or discourages
nation of innovative and experimental political means. popular participation in the long term.
Gramsci (1949) defined a »passive revolution« as a situa-
1.2.3 A Revolution without Revolution? tion in which »a state substitutes the local social groups
in the direction of a struggle for renewal (…) going
At least in the Andes, the Latin American left can be through a series of reforms (…) without going through
said to be pursuing its agenda through constitution a radical - Jacobin style of political revolution«. During
making; countries are changing their basic legal struc- such a revolution »under a certain political enclosure the
ture and avoiding revolt, violence or revolution (Cam- fundamental social relations change and new political
eron and Sharpe 2010: 65). The appeal to constituent forces rise and develop, indirectly influencing the offi-
power by the Latin American left reflects the aspiration cial forces, with a slow and incoercible pressure, making
to create direct mechanisms of democracy and provide them change without realizing it«. The left turn and the
more participation and less political exclusion. But more recent constitution making in Latin America may fit the
than that, there is a purpose to »re - found« the political description of such a »revolution without revolution«,
system, making room for an entirely new model of de- which brings about »molecular transformations« carried
mocracy intended to include traditionally unrepresented out by facts, despite clearly having people as protago-
groups in the decision - making process and therewith nists. As Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said
extend to them access to social rights and public goods. to his Latin American counterparts in 2009, »what we
There is a confessed revolutionary intent in this, which have achieved in these last years was, in truth, the result
recalls the »revolution without revolution« or »revolu- of the deaths of many people, many young people, who
tion - restoration« and a »transformation as a real his- decided to take up arms to bring down the authoritarian
torical document«, to use Gramsci’s (1949) definitions regimes in Chile, in Argentina, in Uruguay, in Brazil, in
of what he called a passive revolution. As a member of almost all the countries. They died, and we are doing
the Bolivia’s constitutional assembly Carlos Romero once what they dreamed of doing – and we have won this by
declared, »we are trying to resolve historical contradic- democratic means.«3
tions«.2
2. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic- 3. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic-
le/2009/02/16/AR2009021601468.html (last checked in 23/04/2013). le/2009/02/16/AR2009021601468_2.html (last checked in 24/04/2013).
8Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
2. From Political Disaffection 1992; Gutmann and Thompson 1996; Bohman 1996;
to Political Experimentalism Dryzek 2000; Fung 2004), and advocate a more com-
prehensive idea of political representation that makes
After decades of struggle for democracy, Latin Amer- room for the claims that cannot be fulfilled by liberal
ica seems to have learned that undemocratic political institutions (Castiglione and Warren 2006; Disch 2011;
means are not conducive to democratic ends. Latin Mansbridge 2003; Urbinati 2006; Saward 2008). Latin
America’s left seems also to have learned that undem- America seems today to be the main laboratory where
ocratic political means are not required to achieve rad- those concepts and theories are being put to the test
ical social ends. Chávez’s »Bolivarian Revolution« has (Fung 2011, Pateman 2012).
relied mainly on a constitution and his »Socialism of
the Twenty - First Century« has drawn greatly on lib- Latin American governments seem to be aware of rep-
eral institutions, such as fair and free elections, com- resentative democracy’s lack of means to achieve its
petitive political parties, separation of powers, rule of purported ends. What they have been endeavouring,
law and equal protection of rights. Notwithstanding especially since the left turn, consists precisely in cre-
the disputes concerning the populist or even author- ating more effective means of political participation
itarian character of Chávez’s government (Diamond as a way to generate more political, social and eco-
2008; Hawkins 2010; Corrales and Penfold 2011) and nomic equality. Citizens’ opportunities to participate
the charges against his dismantling of the previous par- in the political process have been extended beyond
ty system (Mainwaring 2012), one must concede that elections, and participatory innovations allow citizens
representative institutions were preserved during the to deliberate and often even decide on the manage-
long period he ruled Venezuela. And this observation ment of public services, the allocation of state resourc-
can be extended to other Latin America countries: all es and the distribution of public goods. And that has
left - wing governments have maintained the basic in- been pursued without undermining the institutions of
stitutions of representative democracy (Madrid, Hunter representative democracy, but rather by making them
and Weyland 2011: 141). Nevertheless, in addition to stronger.
the latter, direct democracy mechanisms and participa-
tory innovations have been designed, aimed at expand- By expanding democracy’s means, participatory inno-
ing the scope of democracy and attaining the social vations have proved themselves able to correct some
ends it is believed to serve. of representative democracy’s limits: some have shown
themselves able to overcome deficiencies such as cli-
That representative democracy has limits is a fact rec- entelism, while others seem to make the legislature
ognized even by its most avid advocates. Przeworski more responsive and have positive effects in the par-
(2010) acknowledges that among the main limits of ty system. In the aggregate they seem to be restoring
representative institutions is their incapacity to gener- political trust and satisfaction with democracy on the
ate more social and economic equality, as well as their continent. By making political participation more effec-
inability to make political participation more effective. tive, Latin American governments have been proving
Fervent critics of participatory democracy also admit themselves able to achieve democracy’s ends: partic-
that »representative democracy does not easily or au- ipatory innovations have been shown to enhance the
tomatically satisfy some deep human desires, such as redistribution of public goods, include minorities and
participation and social and political recognition, that disadvantaged groups in the political process, make
is, the right to be treated decently and enjoy full citi- sure policies and rights address the latter’s needs, and
zenship. These limitations are intrinsic to representative in the aggregate they seem to be contributing to the
democracy« (Mainwaring 2012: 961). The acknowl- generation of more social and economic equality on
edgement of the empirical limitations of representa- the continent. If this is all true, then political experi-
tive democracy to deliver the normative principles and mentalism is a remedy for political disaffection, and the
values upon which it is grounded has led contempo- pragmatic method of governing an antidote for discon-
rary democratic theory to embrace participatory and tent towards democracy.
deliberative accounts of democracy (Pateman 1970;
Mansbridge 1980; Barber 1984; Fishkin 1991; Habermas
9Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
2.1 Expanding Democracy’s Means in common, however, is that all of them involve voting.
That is why they are definitely »not intended to supplant
In order to make political participation more effective, representative democracy but rather to serve as inter-
the constitutions of the new Latin American democra- mittent safety valves against perverse or unresponsive
cies made sure that their governments provide means behaviour of representative institutions and politicians«
beyond the electoral ones. The new constitution of Ven- (Altman 2011: 2).
ezuela asserts that »all citizens have the right to partic-
ipate freely in public affairs, either directly or through Mechanisms of direct democracy have been used in Lat-
their elected representatives« (Constitution of the Bo- in America since before the process of constitutional re-
livarian Republic of Venezuela, Article 62). Even before forms associated with the third wave of democratization
the »left turn« took place in Latin America, other coun- (Altman 2011). Only five countries on the continent have
tries inscribed a similar precept in their constitutions. never used one of the direct democracy mechanisms:
The Constitution of Brazil, for example, enacted in 1988, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and
right after the country’s transition, states in its very first Nicaragua. Altman (2011) shows that from the begin-
article that »all power emanates from the people, who ning of the third wave (1978) until 2009, Latin America
exercise it by means of elected representatives or direct- saw 55 occurrences of direct democracy, with 112 direct
ly, as provided by this constitution« (Constitution of the votes. Most of those uses of direct democracy mecha-
Federal Republic of Brazil, Article 1). The constitution nisms were initiated by governments (85 per cent), and
goes further and indeed provides those direct means, only four countries in the region have so far experienced
specifying that »the sovereignty of the people shall be citizen - initiated forms of direct democracy (Bolivia, Co-
exercised by universal suffrage and by direct and secret lombia, Uruguay and Venezuela). Uruguay has by far
voting, with equal value for all, and, according to the the largest experience with the mechanisms of direct
law, by means of plebiscite, referendum and popular in- democracy, totalizing 18 direct votes in the period an-
itiative« (Article 14). alysed by Altman (6 mandatory plebiscites, 5 popular
initiatives and 7 referendums). It is followed by Ecuador,
which in its nine instances of direct democracy mech-
2.1.1 Combining Representation anisms has put 39 issues under direct vote (two man-
and Direct Democracy datory plebiscites, 19 consultative facultative plebiscites
and 18 binding facultative plebiscites). The other Latin
The first form of political experimentation tried in the American countries cannot be said to have made much
new democracies of Latin America was a combination of use of direct democracy mechanisms in the past 30
representative and direct democracy mechanisms. Both years of democratic history: Venezuela have had six in-
constitutions exemplified above clearly differentiate be- stances; Panama, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile four each;
tween electoral participation and direct participation. In Peru, Guatemala and Brazil two each; and Argentina and
addition to electing representatives to act in their place, Costa Rica have each employed direct democracy mech-
citizens can vote or give their opinions on relevant is- anisms only once.
sues in referendums and plebiscites, propose meaning-
ful legislation through popular initiatives and, where The issues put to direct vote can also be said to be less
the recall is also institutionalized besides or within the important. According to Altman, almost two - thirds of all
usual three means of direct democracy, terminate the uses of direct democracy mechanisms on the continent
mandates of their representatives. Mechanisms of direct have dealt with questions of institutional design or contin-
democracy can be mandatory or facultative (whether gent politics (for example, extension of mandates, presi-
regulated by law / constitution), binding or consultative dential re - election, type of presidential election, legal sta-
(whether the resolution is absolute), proactive or reac- tus of parties, the formation of constitutional assemblies,
tive (whether attempting to alter or sustain the status among others). Direct votes on substantial matters im-
quo), and top - down or bottom - up (whether initiated plying decisions on specific policy issues have been more
by the government or the citizens).4 What they all have rare. Only 20 times have Latin American citizens had the
opportunity to use direct democracy mechanisms to ex-
4. This typology follows Altman (2011). press their opinions or decide on a basic service tradition-
10Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
ally provided by the state, such as pensions, education, popular sovereignty beyond electoral means. And its
telecommunications, infrastructure, water, electricity and outcome is to render representative democracy stronger,
health. Nine out of these 20 episodes have taken place in correcting some of its institutional insufficiencies.
Uruguay. The rest have occurred in only four countries: Ec-
uador, Colombia, Bolivia and Panama (Altman 2011: 115). Mechanisms of direct democracy are termed »direct«
because theoretically they involve voting directly on pol-
Even if the frequency of their use and the topics they icy issues (or directly proposing issues to be voted on).
cover are not so impressive, most new Latin America de- Citizens would then avoid the indirect decision, that is,
mocracies have expanded the scope of direct democra- simply voting on the representatives who would then
cy mechanisms in their constitutions. Providing citizens vote on substantive policy issues. However, although
with constitutional means to check their governments they can potentially make representative democracy
through popular votes seems to have been a trend more democratic by enlarging citizens’ opportunities
among the post - transitional democracies. But beyond for political participation, direct democracy mechanisms
political fashion, Altman believes that »the reasons be- do not really encompass a form of political participation
hind the use of direct democracy in most of Latin Amer- that goes beyond the main electoral means, that is, vot-
ica obscure a significant deterioration of those critical ing. Voting is a sine qua non characteristic of all mecha-
intermediate institutions that must exist in a given rep- nisms of direct democracy (Altman 2011: 7). Therefore,
resentative regime – namely, political parties and party direct democracy mechanisms are susceptible to all falli-
systems« (2011: 112). His claim is that weak representa- bilities found in methods for preference aggregation and
tive institutions open the door to the use of direct de- charged against the majority principle: no voting proce-
mocracy mechanisms »because of the lack of check and dure can guarantee that a decision reflects the will of
balances characteristic of representative democracies« the majority, not to mention popular sovereignty (Riker
(2011: 111). 1972). In order to arrive at decisions that respond to the
real preferences of citizens, governments had to expand
Political disaffection would then be a reason for the mas- the means of democracy even further.
sive institutionalization of direct democracy mechanisms
in Latin America, and their use would reflect an attempt
to correct the institutional deficiencies of representa- 2.1.2 Furthering Citizens’ Engagement
tive democracy. The extensive use of direct democracy
mechanisms for dealing with questions of institutional In order to become even more effective, political
re - design (mandates, elections, parties, constitutional participation has been expanded beyond election of
assemblies) seem to be indicative of that. Interestingly, representatives and beyond direct votes on political is-
the country that has experimented most extensively with sues. The forms of social mobilization and engagement
direct democracy mechanisms, Uruguay, is precisely the aimed at political ends that have been advanced by
one that is reputed to have the stronger representative the quite resilient Latin America’s civil society after the
system and the best quality of democracy in the entire transitions have been attempts to further participation
continent. Evidence of how direct democracy mecha- beyond the ballot and many times have been moti-
nisms have strengthened representative institutions in vated precisely by discontent with decisions reached
Uruguay gives food for thought. Lissidini (2011), for ex- in ballots. Demonstrations, protests, marches, vigils,
ample, shows that political parties have always retained occupations, pickets, rallies, strikes, sit - ins and peti-
centrality throughout Uruguay’s history of direct votes. tions – all these forms of participation have been very
The parties’ support would have been crucial for the relevant in Latin America’s democratization process
propositions to reach a direct vote, and initiatives not and several events have played pivotal roles and led
backed by at least one party have not made it to the bal- to important political consequences (one among sev-
lot. As a result of the experience with direct democracy eral examples is the protests of the so - called »painted
mechanisms, Lissidini argues, new party identities have faces«, caras pintadas, considered critical in the pro-
been generated in Uruguay (2011: 174). The first form of cess that led to the impeachment of Brazilian President
political experimentation put forward by Latin America Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992). Nonetheless, no
does not aim at social ends; its aspiration is to expand matter how important they are, those forms of social
11Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
mobilization and engagement result mostly in pressure with civil society, governments design innovative institu-
on politics; they do not provide a real form of partici- tions envisaging really effective means of participation.
pation in it. Beginning with participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre
in Brazil, participatory innovations now include a wide
Movements such as the Piqueteros in Argentina, the range of local and national - level experiments that allow
Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) in Mex- citizens to play a larger role in politics. Citizens have been
ico and the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra gradually involved in the design, implementation and
(MST) in Brazil are more organized, however, and carry evaluation of public policy. Throughout the stages of the
on demands that go beyond contingent politics. Those policy cycle, citizens deliberate on policy preferences, set
movements became quite visible in the 1990s and bring priorities together with government representatives and
about clear social demands connected to demands for a manage local resources, effectively taking part in the de-
deeper change in politics. While the Piqueteros demand cision - making process.
more jobs and the Sem Terra more land, both echo the
Zapatistas in their demand for more structural trans- A broad range of participatory innovations have been
formations in the political system and a more inclusive put to work in Latin America in recent years: local and
and participatory democracy. The World Social Forum, national policy councils, community councils, advisory
organized for the first time in 2001 in the Brazilian city councils, national policy conferences, municipal develop-
of Porto Alegre and reuniting hundreds of non - gov- ment councils, participatory urban planning, and a long
ernmental organizations and social movements from list of less institutionalized practices, not to mention
all over the continent, showed that Latin America’s civil the hundreds of participatory budgeting initiatives that
society expected from democratic consolidation more have spread all over the continent. The wide spectrum
than stable representative institutions could offer. Citi- of activities performed by citizens and civil society or-
zens wanted social equality, real political inclusion and ganizations imply much more than mere social control.
cultural recognition. For that, they wanted to take part They take part in the drafting of policies, have a role in
in government, deliberate on policies and decide on ad- the planning of their cities, decide on the allocation of
ministrative matters. municipal budgets, manage the provision of public ser-
vices, administer access to public goods, deliberate on
In Latin America, as elsewhere, political disaffection leads governments’ policy priorities and make proposals and
to the intensification of citizens’ demands. The consolida- recommendations to policymakers, among other activ-
tion of democracy also contributes to the development ities comprised by democratic innovations. The means
of more critical citizens (Norris 1999). Widespread dissat- of democracy have never been so manifold and political
isfaction with the democratic performance of represent- participation so effective.
ative institutions seems to have encouraged civil society
organizations and political parties to align and jointly The degree of variation found among those forms of par-
search for innovative forms of solving local problems and ticipation is very high. Not all participatory innovations
have the desired policies delivered. After decades of ex- involve deliberation. Not all of those that do involve delib-
perience in the long struggle for democracy and against eration result in decision making; some consist simply of
authoritarianism, Latin America’s civil society was ready to consultation. Not all decisions reached in participatory in-
take a step further. Instead of participating against their novations that involve deliberation and decision making
governments, they would have the chance to participate are binding; some consist simply of policy recommen-
with their governments, and somehow within them. dations. Some participatory innovations have reached
the national level, but most of them take place only at
local level. Not all participatory innovations are initiated
2.1.3 Combining Representation by the government, and not all of those initiated by civil
with Participation and Deliberation society are supported by governments. Not all partici-
patory innovations are also the product of left - leaning
The second form of political experimentation put forward governments. The initial success of participatory budg-
by the new democracies of Latin America combines rep- eting seems to have persuaded centre and right parties
resentation with participation and deliberation. Along – as well as multilateral aid agencies such as the World
12Thamy Pogrebinschi | The Pragmatic Turn of Democracy in Latin America
Bank – that participatory innovations are useful means very clear, showing how the combination between rep-
for delivering efficient public services and providing resentation and participation can strengthen democra-
better governance (Avritzer 2009, Hawkins 2010, Gold- cy: »participatory innovation empowers citizens, not by
frank 2011). All these are likewise facets of the political bypassing political parties, but by bringing them clos-
experimentalism that characterizes democracy in Latin er to citizens and forcing them to compete for public
America today. support« (2009: 83). In a highly party - centric political
system that for an incredibly long time has been ruled
Participatory innovations also vary in their impact and by a single party, such an outcome indicates significant
level of success. Even the most successful, participatory potential on the part of participatory innovations to cor-
budgeting, varies enormously, has different results and rect deficiencies of the representative system.
has achieved different degrees of success in the different
cities and periods in which it has taken place (Wampler Evidence of the positive impact of participatory innova-
2007; Avritzer 2009; Peruzzotti 2009; Goldfrank 2011). tions on political parties and on the party system is also
In certain cases, a participatory institution may not found in Bolivia and Ecuador. Van Cott (2008) found that
achieve the exact goal it was expected to, but happens experiences of indigenous parties promoting institution-
to bring about positive impacts on democracy. In par- al innovation in local government in those countries help
ticular, the latter are cases in which, despite the level of mayors to establish personal bonds of loyalty and trust
success of the experiment itself, the outcomes display with voters. Establishing participatory and deliberative
the potential of participatory innovations to correct pur- innovations, indigenous - movement - based political
ported malfunctions of representative democracies or parties achieved greater community control over elect-
simply make representative institutions stronger. ed authorities and greater transparency with respect to
budgeting and spending (2008: 13). The institutional
innovations implemented by the Andean indigenous
2.1.4 Strengthening Representation parties following their own cultural traditions includes
through Participation regular, frequent and open assemblies, where public
spending preferences are freely exposed and jointly pri-
In Mexico, participatory innovations are reported to have oritized. Committees and working groups reuniting mu-
created new channels between citizens and elected rep- nicipal government officials and representatives of civil
resentatives, constituting an alternative to clientelism society also take responsibility for decision making, over-
(Selee 2009). The flourishing of participatory efforts in sight and implementation (2008:22). One of Van Cott’s
local government throughout Mexico, beginning in the main findings is that those participatory innovations help
late 1990s, resulted in varied experiences with different to generate new sources of authority for weak local po-
degrees of success. However, several have reduced cli- litical institutions in the ethnically divided and politically
entelism and constructed more public and transparent unstable Andean countries (2008: 225).
channels for citizen’s voices in local affairs. Selee shows
how in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl and Tijuana, for example, A third type of evidence of democratic innovations that
elected neighbourhood communities and participatory by combining representation and participation bring
planning bodies helped to generate new forms of in- about stronger representative institutions is found in
teraction between citizens and the state. In Tijuana, the Brazil. The National Public Policy Conferences (NPPC),
planning system also produced extensive public delib- a national - level experiment promoted by the federal
eration on municipal priorities and brought citizens and Executive, along with civil society organizations, gath-
government officials closer. New patterns of leadership er together ordinary citizens, civil society organizations,
selection have been engendered, and citizens who un- private entrepreneurs and elected representatives from
dertook an active role in participatory institutions even- all three levels of government to deliberate together
tually became part of the public administration (2009: and agree on a common policy agenda for the coun-
62–83). What this experience shows is that the success try. Although the NPPCs have a longer existence, they
of participatory innovations in Mexico depended largely are reported to have a significant impact on policymak-
on including parties and party - affiliated groups in the ing and lawmaking, especially since the Workers’ Party
process, and not bypassing them. Sellee’s conclusion is took over the federal government in 2003. Pogrebinschi
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